Robert "Bob" James Spreadbury

Born and raised in Calgary, Bob and his family moved to Elkford, BC in early November 1971, some 5 months after the first phase of the “instant town” had been built to house the staff and their families of the new Fording River mine. Bob spent the rest of his career working in the accounting office at Fording River until he retired in 1989. Bob and his wife Shirley raised 2 boys in Elkford and lived there for 43 years.

Bob was very active in the community and was an alderman in Elkford for 9 years over a 10-year period. He was also a Board Director for the Regional District of East Kootenay and the East Kootenay Regional Hospital District from 1982 through 1985, and alternate director for another 5 years. Like his wife Shirley, Bob was also on the Elkford volunteer fire department, from 1973 through 1979.

Bob was a golf course volunteer from the inception of Elkford’s Mountain Meadows golf course. Bob was the assistant greenskeeper for 5 years following his retirement from Fording Coal. Bob was the first honorary lifetime member of the Mountain Meadows golf club.

Bob and his wife Shirley were were married for 57 years until Shirley passed away in mid-October 2014 from a short but brutal battle with metastatic bone cancer. After 43 full years in Elkford, Bob moved to Cochrane to live with his youngest son Ken and his family in early December 2014.

In January 2017 Bob moved into an assisted care facility in Cochrane. Big Hill Lodge became his new home for almost 5 years before significant health issues ultimately resulted in Bob moving into a long-term care facility, Age Care Glenmore in SW Calgary, 2 days before Christmas 2021. Bob passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 28th, 2023.

Bob had a full life. There is always great sorrow at the loss of a loved one, but that grief is tempered by the fact that we know that Bob lived a rich and fulfilling life, much of it with his beloved Shirley. Don’t grieve for Bob’s passing. Instead, remember the good times, the laughs and all of the things, big or small, which made him uniquely Bob. No one who is remembered by family and friends ever truly dies.